Jewish Coalition for Literacy (JCL) has been one of our flagship programs since 1999, boasting more than 200 volunteers helping kids build reading skills. We worked with kindergarteners through third graders in Albany, Schenectady, and Troy offering one-on-one support. Every week we provided new books, helping kids build their own libraries. On March 13, 2020, the program came to a screeching halt.

On that date, a letter was posted on our website stating, “In the wake of COVID-19, Jewish Federation’s board decided to temporarily suspend the literacy program until further notice. Simultaneously, Albany City School District has suspended all volunteer activity through April 30, 2020.”

Well, April 30, 2020, has come and gone. For almost three years, people have been waiting patiently to resume the program, and I’m happy to report that we’re ready to resume. In the weeks ahead, we will be re-recruiting our volunteers and coordinating with our Albany principals and teachers. We’ll identify the students and match them with our volunteers. We’ll locate, dig up, and dust off our books from storage. We’re planning a kickoff event in January and hope to be back in Albany schools by February.

This good news is so “hot off the press” that we haven’t even updated our website yet, but I couldn’t wait to share it. Stay tuned! 

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